Cigarette lighter



Nov. 27, 1962 TATsUGoRo HoRlKosHl 3,065,616

CIGARETTE LIGHTER Filed Jan. 5, 1961 United States Patent O Mce3,065,616 CIGARETTE LIGHTER Tatsugoro Horikoshi, 17 Honden-Kawabata-cho,Katsushika-ku, Tokyo, Japan Filed Jan. 5, 1961, Ser. No. 80,831 Claims.(Cl. 67-7.1)

This invention relates to a cigarette lighter and particularly to acigarette lighter which is` red automatically simultaneously with anopening action of a hinged cap.

AOne object of this invention is to provide a cigarette lighter whichmay be fired without a manual rotation of an igniting wheel.

Another object of this invention is to provide a cigarette lighter whichmay be red surely.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a cigarette lighterhaving a simple construction so as to be made easily.

Brieiiy stated in accordance with one aspect of this invention, there isprovided a cigarette lighter comprising a throwable member, a pawl, anigniting Wheel, `and a pushing-up or cam member. The throwable member ispivotally mounted on a shaft and has a hole through which the top of thepawl is extended upwards to be ixed to the throwable member. The pawl isadapted to engage with the igniting wheel so as to rotate the latterwhen the throwable member pivots together with a cap. The igniting wheelis engaged With a flint loaded by a spring. The pushing-up member isarranged by the side of the iiint and loaded by another spring so as tocam the throwable member and the pawl to rotate the igniting wheel,whereby the lighter .is red automatically when the cap is opened.

The invention will be better understood and other objects and additionaladvantages of the invention will become apparent upon perusal of thefollowing description taken in connection with the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a vertically sectional front view of an embodiment of thisinvention; and Y FIG. 2 is a vertically sectional side View thereoftaken along lines II-II of FIG. l.

Referring more particularly to lthe drawings, the preferred embodimentof this invention will now be described; however, this description willbe understood to be illustrative of the invention and not -as limitingit to the particular construction shown and described.

There is casing 1S having a cap y1 which may turn on a hinge. A fuelreservoir 9 is accommodated inside the casing 15 and xed thereto. A windshield -16 is secured on the top of the reservoir 9. A throwable member2 is pivotally mounted on a shaft fixed to the wind shield and isadapted to pivot simultaneously with the opening and closing actions ofthe hinged cap 1. The throwable member 2 is formed in a U-shape in itsaxial section and an igniting wheel 3 is mounted rotatably on the shaftwithin the throwable member 2. A ratchet wheel 4 is formed on a side ofthe igniting wheel 3 which is engaged with an elastic pawl 5 pivoted onthe shaft. The top 6 of the pawl 5 extends upwards through a =hole 7provided in a side wall of the throwable member 2 and fixed thereto.

A llint is positioned at the top of a flint pushing tube and is adaptedto cooperate with the igniting wheel 3, so that when the cap 1 is openedthe igniting wheel 3 is driven by the pawl 5 to fire the lighter. Thetube 10 is secured to the reservoir 9 at its top and extended downwardswithin the casing 15. A nut 11 is screwed on the lower part of the flintpushing ltube 10 which is threaded on its lower outer surface. AnotherU-shaped pushingup or cam member 8 is provided around the tube 10, thelatter being inserted slidably through a hole provided in the center ofthe pushing-up member 8. Two legs 3,055,616 -Patent-ed Nov. 27, 1962 ofthe pushing-up member 8 are extended upwards to push the lower edges ofthe two legs of the throwable member 2. The lower edges of the throwablemember 2 are rounded, having protrusions towards the hinge, and coactwith the rounded tops of the pushing-up member 8. Then by the action ofla coil spring 12 loading the pushing-up member 8 upwards against lthenut 11, the throwable member 2 tends to turn in the counterclockwisedirection in FIG. l. It is preferable to thicken the lower edges of thethrowable member 2 so as to secure the engagement thereof with the topof the pushing-up member 8. Numeral 13 indicates a screw screwed insidethe bottom of the int pushing tube 10 so as to push the int upwardsconventionally. Numeral -1-4 indicates a partition bordering thereservoir 9. Numeral 17 indicates a wick.

In operation, after the cap A1 is opened manually to an extent, thethrowable member 2 is forced to t-urn together with lthe pawl 5, so asto rotate the igniting wheel 3 automatically, and simultaneously the cap1 continues the opening action by the pushing action of the spring 12.When the igniting wheel 3- is rotated, the wick 17 is redconventionally. Thus it becomes unnecessary to rotate the igniting wheel3 manually. When the cap 1 is closed manually, the coil spring 12 iscompressed so as to secure the closed position of the cap 1. By virtueof the arrange ment of the pushing-up member 8 and the coil spring 12around the iiint pushing .tube 10, the whole construction becomessimpler so as to make this lighter more easily. By virtue of thearrangement of the elastic pawl 5 inserted through the hole 7, theengagement of the pawl 5 with the ratchet wheel 4 is ensured, and thepawl 5 is made durable and may be xed to the wall of the throwablemember 2 durably and easily repairably.

While there is herein shown and described a preferred form of thepresent invention, `I do not wish to be limited to the form hereinparticularly shown and specifically described, but rather intend thatthe invention shall include all reasonable equivalents thereof whichwill occur to 4those skilled in the art from the present disclosure.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent ofthe United States is:

-1. In a lighter of the type including a casing, a fuel reservoir insaid casing, a wick extending from the reservoir, an igniting wheelrotatably mounted on a shaft supported on the reservoir, a flint, meansfor biasing the ilint into cooperable relationship with the ignitingwheel: a cover hinged to said casing at an end thereof adjacent saidshaft, for movement between open and closed positions; a relativelyelongated throw member pivoted adjacent one end to said shaft andcoupled to said cover for movement therewith, said one end of said throwmember being formed with a cam surface eccentric to said shaft; a pawlpivoted on said shaft and anchored to said throw member, said pawl beingcooperable with a ratchet on said igniting wheel to rotate the latterupon pivoting of said throw member; a cam member longitudinally slidablymounted in said casing for movement toward and away from said shaft,said cam member having a camming end engageable with said cam surface;and means biasing said cam member toward said shaft; said camming end,after a partial opening of said cover, coacting with said cam surface tobias cover to the open position to pivot said throw member to rotatesaid pawl and said igniting wheel to fire the lighter; said cam surface,upon closing of said cover, coacting with said camming end to move saidcam member against the force of its biasing means.

2. In a lighter as claimed in claim l, wherein said means for biasingthe flint includes a yflint tube mounting said flint; said cam memberbeing apertured to receive said int tube and being slidably mountedthereon.

3. In a lighter as claimed in claim 2, the lower portion of said flinttube being exteriorly threaded; said biasing means comprising a coilspring embracing said int tube and engaged at one end with said cammember; and a nut threaded on said exteriorly threaded portion of saidflint tube and engaged with the other end of said coil spring to adjust.the bias of said cam member.

4 In a lighter as claimed in claim 1, said throw member being U-shapedand said shaft extending through apertures 1in the outer ends of the`arms of the U; said outer ends being thickened; said cam member beingU- shaped and having said camming end formed on the ends of its arms.

5. In a lighter as claimed in claim 4, wherein said means for biasingthe flint includes a flint tube supporting said int; said cam memberhaving an aper-tured base slidably receiving said int tube.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,028,462 Heyman June 4, 1912 2,647,383 Florman Aug. 4, 1953 l FOREIGNPATENTS 599,527 Great Britain Mar. l5, 1948

